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LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:08 pm
by peterb0y
Am I at a disadvantage for going to a school that doesn't give A+'s? I'm still a little confused about the whole GPA system...

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:13 pm
by 094320
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Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:14 pm
by whymeohgodno
acrossthelake wrote:Yeah, but in the grand scheme of unfairness in systems, it's really not a big deal.
+1

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:16 pm
by peterb0y
Its absolute BS that I go to a top 10 undergrad, and I'm at a disadvantage to some people at waaaaay "worse" schools. Wow, kinda shocked.

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:31 pm
by BarCliff
Perhaps the better way to look at it is that the people who go to the easy undergrads are smarter than you (or, at the very least, think decisions further out ahead. it's like chess, always plan ahead).

If you had done some research you would have picked a lower institution, recognizing that you could easily secure a 4.0 with minimal work.

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:33 pm
by 094320
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Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:35 pm
by bk1
peterb0y wrote:Its absolute BS that I go to a top 10 undergrad, and I'm at a disadvantage to some people at waaaaay "worse" schools. Wow, kinda shocked.
Welcome to life.

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:39 pm
by whymeohgodno
acrossthelake wrote:
peterb0y wrote:Its absolute BS that I go to a top 10 undergrad, and I'm at a disadvantage to some people at waaaaay "worse" schools. Wow, kinda shocked.
Just ace the LSAT then, which is weighted more.

ETA: I don't really feel like ppl who didn't go to heavily grade deflated schools have room to argue. And even then, my friend who is an EE major at MIT has a 4.0, so it's not like it's impossible.
4.0 EE MIT? I bet he will set the curve at any law school he attends.

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:40 pm
by im_blue
peterb0y wrote:Its absolute BS that I go to a top 10 undergrad, and I'm at a disadvantage to some people at waaaaay "worse" schools. Wow, kinda shocked.
Let me guess, you go to Penn or Dartmouth, both of which have average GPAs > 3.4. :roll:

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:42 pm
by 09042014
whymeohgodno wrote:
acrossthelake wrote:
peterb0y wrote:Its absolute BS that I go to a top 10 undergrad, and I'm at a disadvantage to some people at waaaaay "worse" schools. Wow, kinda shocked.
Just ace the LSAT then, which is weighted more.

ETA: I don't really feel like ppl who didn't go to heavily grade deflated schools have room to argue. And even then, my friend who is an EE major at MIT has a 4.0, so it's not like it's impossible.
4.0 EE MIT? I bet he will set the curve at any law school he attends.
Not necessarily, but there is a damn good chance. Some engineers have just zero ability to reason outside of math. They are a very small minority though.

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:44 pm
by im_blue
Desert Fox wrote:
whymeohgodno wrote:
acrossthelake wrote:
peterb0y wrote:Its absolute BS that I go to a top 10 undergrad, and I'm at a disadvantage to some people at waaaaay "worse" schools. Wow, kinda shocked.
Just ace the LSAT then, which is weighted more.

ETA: I don't really feel like ppl who didn't go to heavily grade deflated schools have room to argue. And even then, my friend who is an EE major at MIT has a 4.0, so it's not like it's impossible.
4.0 EE MIT? I bet he will set the curve at any law school he attends.
Not necessarily, but there is a damn good chance. Some engineers have just zero ability to reason outside of math write. They are a very small minority though.

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:46 pm
by Shrimps
Schools should just stop sending GPA data to anyone and in general ignore it for anyone except for serious splitters like me (nothing good about slackers). It is a garbage notion that a degree in physics from Caltech, with a 3.5 GPA has the same weight as a degree in "communications" or somesuch fluff from a third tier state college with a 3.5 GPA.

It is this pressure that causes students to avoid difficult classes and difficult majors and try their best at coasting - intellectually, that is - through college, whoring for easy A's.

When GPA's are taken into account they destroy undergraduate education - intellectually and morally. Who can talk with a straight face about academic integrity with this rampant grade inflation?

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:47 pm
by 094320
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Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:49 pm
by whymeohgodno
acrossthelake wrote:
whymeohgodno wrote:
acrossthelake wrote:
peterb0y wrote:Its absolute BS that I go to a top 10 undergrad, and I'm at a disadvantage to some people at waaaaay "worse" schools. Wow, kinda shocked.
Just ace the LSAT then, which is weighted more.

ETA: I don't really feel like ppl who didn't go to heavily grade deflated schools have room to argue. And even then, my friend who is an EE major at MIT has a 4.0, so it's not like it's impossible.
4.0 EE MIT? I bet he will set the curve at any law school he attends.
He's not applying to law school. Was just using him as an example of how the cream of the crop often rises to the top wherever they go. His writing skills were about on par with mine back when we went to school together, though that was years ago.
Yeah, it would be a waste to see someone of his caliber attend law school. I'm dead serious also - we need him to do something that actually matters.

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:50 pm
by JG Hall
I had A+s, and I graduated summa with under a 3.8. A+s helped make up for an oppressing curve.

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:52 pm
by 09042014
im_blue wrote:
Desert Fox wrote:
whymeohgodno wrote:
acrossthelake wrote: Just ace the LSAT then, which is weighted more.

ETA: I don't really feel like ppl who didn't go to heavily grade deflated schools have room to argue. And even then, my friend who is an EE major at MIT has a 4.0, so it's not like it's impossible.
4.0 EE MIT? I bet he will set the curve at any law school he attends.
Not necessarily, but there is a damn good chance. Some engineers have just zero ability to reason outside of math write. They are a very small minority though.
Not a small minority, most.

Though for law school exams, it doesn't really matter. Shitty writing flung against a keyboard is good enough.

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:54 pm
by 094320
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Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:55 pm
by im_blue
Desert Fox wrote:Though for law school exams, it doesn't really matter. Shitty writing flung against a keyboard is good enough.
Would superior analysis but poor writing be good enough for above-median grades?

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:56 pm
by JG Hall
im_blue wrote:
Desert Fox wrote:Though for law school exams, it doesn't really matter. Shitty writing flung against a keyboard is good enough.
Would superior analysis but poor writing be good enough for above-median grades?
there's not that much room for "superior analysis"

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:56 pm
by whymeohgodno
acrossthelake wrote:
whymeohgodno wrote:
Yeah, it would be a waste to see someone of his caliber attend law school. I'm dead serious also - we need him to do something that actually matters.
Agreed. He was originally not happy with me applying to law school, either, since he felt like it was a waste. He's applying to EE PhD programs instead.

I go to a T20 school as well, and while I acknowledge that coursework is def. more difficult here than it is at some really awful schools, I also think with grade inflation it's just not that difficult to get a decent GPA here either. Mine is sorta lower because I put more time into other things, which I have no problem with, and no complaints about.
Yeah I mean with the exception of a very few schools, grade inflation is everywhere.

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:57 pm
by 09042014
im_blue wrote:
Desert Fox wrote:Though for law school exams, it doesn't really matter. Shitty writing flung against a keyboard is good enough.
Would superior analysis but poor writing be good enough for above-median grades?
I'm no expert, I've only gotten back one graded midterm but shitty analysis, with shitty writing, but good issue spotting sure is.

Though LRW will kick your ass. Avoided graded LRW like the plague.

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:40 pm
by nphsbuckeye
Law schools would care about UG school and major if USN accounted for them. But USN does not.

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:46 pm
by 09042014
nphsbuckeye wrote:Law schools would care about UG school and major if USN accounted for them. But USN does not.
The LSAT it self was designed to make law schools less UG prestige whorish.

Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 9:15 pm
by 094320
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Re: LSDAS GPA and schools that don't give A+s... What the hell?

Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 3:18 am
by Ship87
I for one am glad the LSAT exists and has the weight it does. I'm coming from a regular state school that most admissions officers probably will not even recognize, and my 177 LSAT is the biggest thing that will give me a shot. Of course, I suppose the view is different on the other side of the score band.